UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – Le Figaro summarizes the latest information from journalists, official Ukrainian and Russian statements, Western sources and international organizations.
Moscow still accuses Ukraine of preparing a “dirty bomb”, Slovenia denounces manipulation of a photo, “bitter” fighting is taking place in the east of the country, and Emmanuel Macron moves to the Cher department to support the defense industry. .. Le Figaro takes stock of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine on Thursday 27 October.
Moscow reiterates ‘dirty bomb’ accusations to India and China
Shortly before these maneuvers, Russia repeated allegations to China and India that Ukraine was preparing to use a “dirty bomb” during the blast, a weapon consisting of conventional explosives surrounded by radioactive material intended for proliferation is. During a meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu expressed his “concerns about possible provocations by Ukraine with the use of a ‘dirty bomb'”.
Russia first raised these allegations during phone calls between Sergei Shoigu and his American, French, British and Turkish counterparts on Sunday. Sergei Shoigu expressed the same “concerns” during a call with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh.
Ukraine and the West have denounced “absurd” and “dangerous” allegations and hinted that Russia is preparing itself for an escalation on the battlefield, where its troops have suffered a string of defeats since September. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia had information about an “existing threat” of Ukraine’s use of a “dirty bomb”.
Slovenia denounces the manipulation of a photo
On Wednesday evening, the Slovenian government assured that Moscow had used a photo from Slovenia and from 2010 to support its Twitter accusations about the “dirty bomb” that Kyiv was preparing. The operation “was carried out unjustly and without the knowledge of the Slovenian authorities,” explained Dragan Barbutovski, adviser to Prime Minister Robert Golob.
The Slovenian government released a series of tweets in English to denounce the fact that “the photo used by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Twitter” is “a photo of the Slovenian Radioactive Waste Agency (ARAO)”.
Putin oversees the training of his nuclear deterrent forces
Vladimir Putin on Wednesday took part in the training of Russian strategic deterrent forces, responsible in particular for responding to the threat of nuclear war, from a control room. If conducted regularly, this type of exercise ties into the full Russian offensive in Ukraine. “Under the leadership of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Vladimir Putin, the land, sea and air strategic deterrent forces have conducted training and conducted practical launches of ballistic and cruise missiles,” the Kremlin said.
Russian television showed the crew of a submarine preparing to launch a missile from the Barents Sea in the Arctic. Long-range Tu-95 aircraft also took part in the exercise. “The tasks set during the strategic deterrence exercise were fully accomplished, with all missiles hitting their targets,” the Kremlin continued.
70,000 civilians evacuated, “bitter fighting” in Bakhmout
Russian occupation authorities in Kherson announced on Wednesday that in a week they evacuated 70,000 civilians from that city, which has been turned into a fortress to withstand the impending Ukrainian attack. Elsewhere on the front lines, at least seven people have been killed and 13 injured in the past 24 hours, according to the Ukrainian presidency. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia has already used around 400 Iranian drones against its population. He asserted that 60 to 70% of these planes had been shot down by his country’s anti-aircraft defenses.
According to him, “extremely fierce fighting” is taking place “near Bakhmout,” a town in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine that has been a priority target for the Russian army for months. “Extremely fierce fighting is taking place in the Donetsk region, near Bakhmout and Avdiivka,” he said in his daily address published on social networks. Kyiv also announced a new prisoner swap with Moscow on Wednesday, involving 10 Ukrainian soldiers. Russia also returned the body of American volunteer Joshua Alan Jones, who was killed in action in August.
No transfers that would endanger France, according to Lecornu
France, which has supplied Ukraine with a certain amount of military equipment since the start of the Russian invasion, is not making any transfers that could endanger its security, Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu assured on Wednesday evening. “We are not making any concessions that would endanger the French nation. We do this with the pragmatism that leads us to look at the reality of our shares, but also the reality of the advice that our generals have given us,” the minister said during a debate on the conflict in the Senate.
This “pragmatism” no less tempts France to draw “conclusions” about the stockpiling of its equipment: for example, “the 18 Caesar guns handed over to Ukraine have been the subject of a stockpiling reorganization since last July,” recalled the minister. The gift of these guns “may have destabilized the training schedules of some artillery regiments, but the destabilizing training of some gunners (…) has nothing to do with lowering the safety standards for France and the French,” Mr. Lecornu estimated.
Visit of Emmanuel Macron in the Cher
According to Minister Sébastien Lecornu, “the real issue” at the moment is to develop a “war economy”, i.e. . “Obviously we have an industrial issue that we have to deal with”, assessed Sébastien Lecornu, specifying that in the future French strategic autonomy will go through “a need for additional reactivity”.
President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Cher on Thursday to visit several defense industry sites, in particular to illustrate France’s efforts to produce ever faster. Emmanuel Macron had confirmed in early October that Paris was considering sending six more Caesar guns to Ukraine, in addition to the 18 already delivered. The flagship of French artillery, these guns have a range of 40 kilometers.
France has also so far provided anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, forward armored vehicles (VAB), fuel, individual equipment and about fifteen 155mm TRF1 towed guns. It is examining the possibility of supplying 20 Bastion armored vehicles.
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